I attended a book launch the other day which broke all the conventions. For one thing, it was actually fun. For another, there was no one glass of warm white wine (as is the norm) but free-flowing, excellent vintage stuff.
Best of all was the author – a distinguished man who was an absolute delight. Why? Because he was totally, eccentrically himself. Warm, witty and unafraid to say what he thought.
And all the more successful for it.
It reminded me of what I so often say to you about showing your unique, human face to the world. Of how being yourself is just about the best marketing move you can make.
Here are some great takeaways from a recent conference here in London on how to inject that human touch into your marketing:
http://www.vervesearch.com/blog/ses-london-2013-1st-day-being-human-is-crucial/
I also came across this excellent piece from Mark Manson which touches on similar chords:
http://markmanson.net/diversify-your-identity
There has been so much noise about Amazing Selling Machine that I decided to expand on the Kindle freebie I suggested last week about FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon).
It’s the hot topic du jour as everyone leaps on the bandwagon and although there are cheaper – and arguably better – alternatives to ASM on the market I rooted around for these no cost resources on the topic.
Of course, some mention these and other courses, including their own, but there is plenty of good information to be had without having to part with a dime.
First up is a great site called Learning FBA and I particularly like this clear-sighted piece on misconceptions regarding FBA. This may well help you decide if it’s really for you:
http://learningfba.com/misconceptions-about-fba/
If you do decide to explore this lucrative business model, who better to learn from than the source itself:
Jessica Larrew is one of the big FBA success stories and has several products on the subject but also provides some great resources, including this handy list of restricted products:
http://jessicalarrew.com/brands-that-are-restricted-to-amazon-fba-sellers/
I also like her list of her top 10 tools:
http://jessicalarrew.com/my-top-10-favorite-tools-from-2013-as-an-amazon-fba-seller/
Finally, a nice case study from a couple made FBA their full-time job:
http://www.fulltimefba.com/our-liquidation-store-experiment/
This week’s Kindle freebie is on a totally different topic and one I know is close to many people’s hearts. This is all about how to succeed in business and at networking if you are an introvert…
Here’s what one reviewer had to say:
“In this book, Michael shows that it is not necessary to be an extrovert to be successful in business.
Indeed, I think you will be surprised how many successful people have been introverts.Well worth a read on your path to success.”
http://www.amazon.com/Introverted-Leader-Successful-Networking-Introvert-ebook/dp/B00JG6EF0U/
To complement that, your TED talk this week is Susan Cain’s superb presentation on the power of introverts. Even if you’re not one, we can all take away a lot from this:
